This week Microsoft expanded its Genuine Advantage program to include …

Microsoft's "Windows Genuine Advantage" (WGA) program has received more than its fair share of criticism, mostly on account of how easy it has been to circumvent in the past. Aimed at "verifying" that users have legitimate (= licensed) versions of Windows, WGA "authenticates" Windows XP installs whenever a user attempts to download certain updates or add-ons from Microsoft. Initially, this verification process would determine whether or not a user could download such materials, but the company has now expanded WGA to include constant user notifications in the case of a failed authentication.

"You may be a victim of software counterfeiting"

After installing new Windows Updates made available this week, users whose Windows XP installations fail to pass WGA testing may find their Windows experience "updated" to include a series of notifications urging the user to resolve the situation. For example, after logging into a computer that has failed the WGA test, a user will receive the following message:

You may be a victim of software counterfeiting. This copy of Windows is not genuine and is not eligible to receive all updates and product support from Microsoft.

Click Get Genuine now to get more information and resolve this issue.

Users who opt to "resolve later" will see balloon notification messages in the notification area urging them to resolve the issue. They will also see the following text on their desktop:

This copy of Windows is not genuine. You may be the victim of software counterfeiting

Affected users who find these messages irritating can actually disable them by right-clicking the notifier icon in the notification area and selecting Change Notifications Settings. These settings will maintain until the next Windows Update only, however. Furthermore, it will not be possible to uninstall the notification tool once it is installed.

GA meets the O

Microsoft is also going to expand its "Genuine Advantage" approach to other products, notably its Office suite. Starting this week, the company will be testing a new Office Genuine Advantage program (OGA), initially targeted at the following language versions: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.

These new tools are not likely to deter or stop those who are determined to use pirated software, but they were not designed to do that, either. Microsoft's aims are to make casual piracy more difficult, and to stop black- and gray-market sales of pirated software. In the latter case, the company believes that users who discover they they have been sold counterfeit software will help the company find and punish the scam artists.

"The best way to protect consumers is, first, to educate them about the issue, then to equip them to spot counterfeit software, and finally, to help them understand what they should do about it," said Cori Hartje, director Microsoft?s Genuine Software Initiative. "That?s why we are working to build new tools such as the WGA notifications feature that can help consumers be confident that the software they are using is genuine." She added, "Consumers who participate in the WGA and OGA programs have the opportunity to report the source of a counterfeit installation."

The company declined to comment on a target date for a wider test.

Ken Fisher
Ken is the founder & Editor-in-Chief of Ars Technica. A veteran of the IT industry and a scholar of antiquity, Ken studies the emergence of intellectual property regimes and their effects on culture and innovation. Emailken@arstechnica.com//Twitter@kenfisher